The Salt Lake Tribune reported that Brigham Young University’s newest ROTC instructor, US Air Force Col Timothy “Raptor” Hogan, objected to BYU’s required moral code — which is required for him to be recognized as a faculty member, and which BYU refused to waive:

BYU is owned by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Students and faculty are required to adhere to prohibitions against alcohol, drugs, coffee, premarital sex and other activities contrary to the beliefs of the faith. The U.S. military assigns instructors to ROTC programs…

“I told the (university) president in an interview that I would Read more

High School football coach Joe Kennedy was fired for praying at the 50-yard line after his team’s games. He has since sued the Bremerton School District for illegally terminating him for his religious expression.

In November, Chad Hennings, a Christian and former Air Force A-10 pilot, filed an amicus brief (PDF) supporting the call for the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals to allow the injunction requiring the school district to reinstate Coach Kennedy.

Mr. Hennings attributes much of his success to lessons imparted to him by the men who coached him throughout his scholastic and professional athletic endeavors, and who encouraged his dreams to serve his country and to play professional football. He thus shares [the] concern about judicial decisions that may impair a coach’s ability to speak freely and abide by his or her conscience and religious convictions.

Four A-10 pilots from the 23rd Wing at Moody AFB, Georgia, have been removed from flight status as the Air Force and FAA review an impromptu fly-by they did of the Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, NC: Read more

Graham and Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., suggested the Air Force has more work ahead to convince Congress that retiring the A-10 is a smart move.

“So for about $3.5 billion over the next five years, if [Congress] could find the money, could you afford to keep the A-10 on board?” Graham said.

Welsh said money wasn’t the only problem…

In an interesting twist, the US Army — which has traditionally been “accused” of wanting the A-10 and criticizing the Air Force for wanting to get rid of it — actually seems to be supportive of the decision: Read more

The controversial DoD budget proposal that has been in the news for the past few weeks contains two specific items for the US Air Force — the end (again) for the A-10 Thunderbolt II (“Warthog”), and the U-2Dragon Lady.

The former is supposed to be replaced by the F-35; the latter, by the unmanned RQ-4 Global Hawk.